1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns tactical communications networks, particularly a network that provides situational awareness information to dismounted soldiers and enables them to exchange messages with one another and their line of command.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
Individual soldiers engaged in tactical operations or missions must be informed continuously of the status of a given mission and their current orders, typically by way of voice and/or text message communications. The soldiers must also be able to communicate their condition and progress to their chain of command, including the locations of new targets that they identify, and calls for fire or to adjust fire. Unfortunately, many of the various military and commercial radios and networks currently available for use by individual dismounted soldiers are not compatible with one another, thus making it difficult if not impossible to communicate tactical information quickly and reliably to and from the front line. Moreover, there are no known location based services that can provide tactical geo-referenced information (e.g., maps showing a soldier's location, the locations of buddies, hostiles, targets, and other points of interest) to the dismounted soldier. And there is also a lack of secure gateways that allow interoperability among legacy tactical communications systems. A need therefore exists for a reliable network and system for communicating important tactical information including text, voice and imagery, to and from the dismount regardless of the particular radios, networks, or other communications devices being deployed.